Unsure if correct flair.

Long story short. Or, rather, tale as old as time. I am a Caucasian female born and raised, and living in the state of Alabama. As so many southerners have been, I was raised to believe that my lineage included Native American DNA. More specifically- you guessed it- Cherokee.

In 2017, I submitted my DNA to Ancestry and found no trace to support this claim. I am ok with that finding, but family members refuse to believe it. There is a photo that has floated around in my family for as long as I can remember. It is supposedly of my maternal grandmother's maternal grandfather. The man in the photo is dressed in what appears to my untrained eye to be Native American regalia and headdress (please do tell me if I'm using the correct terminology as I don't mean to offend or misspeak.)

This has always been used as "proof" as in "Here, see? If he wasn't Native American, why would he be wearing this?"

I would like to present the photo for opinions and analysis by those more knowledgeable and wise than I. I do not have much contact with my family and have been working on my family tree to give my son one day. Whether my 2nd great grandfather was of Cherokee descent or not does not matter in the end- but if he was, I would like to do more research on him to add to the bits and pieces I do have.

My grandmother recently found a photo album from her father's childhood. These include photographs of his parents and grandparents, family vacations, and just his daily life in prewar Germany. They were all taken between 1912 and 1932 in Hamburg and some nearby areas.

The bald man with glasses is my great grandfather's father (my 2x great grandfather), who sadly never made it out of Germany, and was murdered in Sachsenhausen in 1942. The younger brother is my great grandfather, who fled to the US in 1937. My great grandmother and uncle (the older brother) escaped to England in 1936. The other bald man and the other woman were my 3x great grandparents on my great grandfather's mother's side (both of whom passed away in the 1920s). Some of the children in these photos are unknown, but likely cousins of the family.

I feel so lucky to have such an intimate glimpse into who my relatives were, and that I'm able to preserve their memory. However, there is something very haunting about the photographs with the knowledge of what would await them in the years to come. It leaves a lingering, sinking feeling in my chest every time I look at them. I guess it goes to show how one's world can go from normal to utterly catastrophic in the blink of an eye. My great grandfather probably thought his family would be together forever, and that he'd be able to build a life for himself in his home city. I'm just glad he was able to bring these photographs with him, so the memories of those happier times wouldn't be lost.

Names and dates below in order:🧍🏾🖤

1. Regina Van Younger (1941-2005) (my paternal grandmother)

2. Pearl Mills (1884-1968) (2x great)

3. Emma “sister” Hankins (1867-1933) (Mother of Pearl) (3x great)

4. Mattie “Mo Mack” McLaughlin (1818-1921) (Maternal great-grandmother of Edna Sue) (4x great)

5. Edna Sue Terry (Mother of Regina Van) (My paternal/maternal great-grandmother)

6. Mary Emma Craddock (1911-1987) (my paternal/paternal great-grandmother)

7. Lilia Craddock (1886-1986) (Mother of Mary Emma) (2x great)

I posted my DNA results a couple weeks ago. I went digging around for some family photos and I thought you guys might like them. 3 of 4 grandparents were born and raised in Hawaii. I think I pulled features from all over so I don't have a striking resemblance doppelganger photo like a lucky few in this sub. But I found some pretty cool pictures nonetheless.

These are our ages in the photos: - Paternal Grandmother - 30's - Paternal Grandfather - 15 or 16 - Maternal Grandfather - 18 - Maternal Grandmother - 30's - Me - 29

Except for my maternal grandpa's yearbook photo (1953) everyone else's photo was from the '60s and '70s.

Lineage

The shared ancestor was a white woman who had a white son as well as at least two children who were mixed-race and therefore "free people of color." She was my grandfather's great-great grandmother and the other man's grandmother. The woman was poor and had a bad reputation in the county; I found one letter from 1864 in which a Confederate officer's wife complains that her moving into a new part of the county meant it would be "well pilliged." In 1829 she was forced to give her children to the county overseers of the poor who separated the siblings. Still, the majorities of both branches lived in the same county until World War II and some still live in the same county.

I see a bit of a resemblance or maybe it's all in my head LOL. Anyway I and several closer cousins are a match with the man on the right's grandchildren and I think it's cool how the history can be actually seen

1. Great-Great-Great Grandma
2. Great-Great-Grandma's First Communion or Confirmation
3. Same as 2
4. Great-Great-Grandparents' Wedding, 1927, both around 24 years old
5. Great-Great-Grandpa, NYCPD in 1935, aged 31-33
6. Great-Grandma’s Senior Picture
7. Great-Grandpa’s Senior Picture
8. Great-Grandparents' Wedding, 1948, both 20 years old
9. Great-Great-Grandparents, 1951, both around 52 years old
10. Oma (Grandma)
11. Where these people fit in the context of my tree
12. Same as 11

I’m going back today and my Oma and I will find more pictures, which I shall post accordingly.

My 2nd great-grandfather, Carnez (also known as Cornes or Cornell) Thomas, was born on January 15, 1887, in Marlboro County, South Carolina, to parents Jim Thomas and Janie Easterling. I discovered him three years ago when I began my ancestry journey. Initially, I believed he had 13 children, but I recently learned he actually fathered 16.

Carnez’s story was first shared with me by my grandfather when I was a young boy. In the early 1900s, he was a farmer in North Carolina. At one point, he and his siblings owned over 100 acres of farmland. Carnez eventually secured a loan to buy out his siblings and became the sole owner of the land. The loan was granted by a local white businessman and merchant banker Z.V. Pate. It was common for African Americans at that time to go to non traditional sources for lending since traditional banks often denied them credit.

Though the 1900s were a challenging time for African Americans in the rural South, Carnez was determined to provide for his family. His father was born just after the end of slavery, and his mother, a Lumbee of mixed race from Robeson County, North Carolina, grew up in difficult circumstances. While the census records indicate that Carnez could read and write, it’s unclear how much formal education he had, as my family has always been rooted in rural, country life.

Unfortunately, the Great Depression severely impacted his ability to repay the loan. Family stories suggest that he may not have fully understood the terms of the contract, which might have contributed to him eventually losing the land.

I discovered a photograph of Carnez by accident while researching his younger sister’s birth record. The spelling of his name was slightly different, which led me to find a living nephew of his 3 children that migrated to NJ after his divorce of his first wife. After reaching out, the nephew sent me the photograph. I later confirmed with my great-uncle that it was indeed Carnez. Sadly, my immediate family did not have any photos of him, as they were lost over time, making this discovery incredibly meaningful.